Husqvarna was not remotely on Stefan Pierer’s radar even a year ago. Last week, the CEO of Austrian off-road bike maker KTM snapped up the company from BMW Motorrad.

Husqvarna is an old, traditional Swedish off-road bike brand which would typically need a new, aggressive product line-up.

Its acquisition also coincides with hardcore realities like a fragile European market and the need for KTM to explore other geographies.

It is here that its Indian partner, Bajaj Auto, which has a 47 per cent stake in the company, will play a big role.

“As in cars, motorcycle engine development is absolutely critical. We are already working with Bajaj for (up to) 390cc displacements and can explore specific applications for Husqvarna based on the KTM concept,” Pierer told Business Line at Bajaj Auto’s corporate headquarters at Akurdi.

On the low-end/small displacement, the idea is to “sit together” to work out engine platforms and models from the company’s Chakan facility near Pune.

“We can also look at bringing Husqvarna back into the competitive world which means using synergies with the KTM platform,” he said.

While Europe is still a key home market (which accounts for 50 per cent of KTM’s volumes), the future is clearly the Asean region which includes Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

It is in this context that the Chakan plant will play a vital role as a manufacturing hub.

“Chakan is always going to be our backbone for emerging markets and, hopefully, India will negotiate some trade agreements with Asean in the future. Husqvarna has come at the right time and joint product development will only look better,” Pierer said.

The Chakan facility houses the engine platforms and all that will be required is to “design a different chassis, some plastics and have a nice bike”.

Eventually, KTM-Husqvarna-Bajaj could emerge as a combined powerhouse for emerging markets.

The big surprise within motorcycle circles was Pierer’s decision to acquire Husqvarna in his personal capacity. “It was a quick deal which did not give us too much time to look at the intricacies,” he said.

Pierer said the company was exploring all the possible synergies likely with Husqvarna as well as those areas which make sense to KTM.

“We will go in for a step-by-step approach before we integrate the brand into the whole group,” he added.

Clearly, one of the key reasons for this acquisition was the state of the motorcycle market in Europe and North America which has shrunk by nearly 50 per cent over the last five years.

Consolidation has, therefore, become the survival mantra for bike makers.

Off-road bikes were not BMW’s core focus (it is largely on-road) and, despite being rivals, KTM enjoys a good relationship with the German automaker.

“When they asked us if we were interested, I decided to go ahead,” Pierer added.

murali.gopalan@thehindu.co.in

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